


The Wheel Of The Year VIII: Lammas

by BradyGirl_12



Series: The Wheel Of The Year [8]
Category: due South
Genre: Established Relationship, Holidays, M/M, Male Slash, Pagan Festivals, Paganism, Romance, Series, Series: The Wheel Of The Year, Slash, Wicca
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 1999-05-22
Updated: 1999-05-22
Packaged: 2018-11-10 09:41:41
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,066
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11124588
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BradyGirl_12/pseuds/BradyGirl_12
Summary: First Harvest.  Originally posted 8/28/98. This story is a sequel toThe Wheel Of The Year VII: Midsummer.





	1. Celebration

**Author's Note:**

> Note from Speranza, the archivist: this story was once archived at [Due South Archive](http://fanlore.org/wiki/Due_South_Archive). To preserve the archive, I began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project in June 2017. Original pseudonym: Gilda Lily.  
> Well, it's been a whole turn of the Wheel since I started this  
> series  
> with Mabon, and it's been fun for me to write. I hope it's been  
> as  
> much fun for you to read.  
> Rated NC-17 for m/m sex.  
> Disclaimer: I don't own 'em, Alliance does, more's the pity.  
> (c) August 1, 1998 A Merry Lammas!  
>   
> 

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Circle is cast...

*The heat shimmered as Ray watched his hand glide over the paper  
in front of him, his ballpoint pen making graceful curves and flourishes  
as he wrote. Not a breeze stirred or a sound was made as the  
surrounding forest maintained its silence.  
  
Benny was out there, preparing the meadow for what was to come.  
Ray  
looked down at Dief, who was lying at his feet, eyes closed and  
tongue  
panting. He ruffled the wolf's fur. Poor boy. He was more  
accustomed  
to Arctic cold than this frying-eggs weather.  
  
Ray looked down at the paper again and after a moment's  
hesitation, began to write furiously.  


* * * * * *

  
Benny carefully set out the Four Quarters with candles, and he  
shook  
out the altar cloth and set it over the small wooden table that  
was  
serving as the altar. The morning sun was already blazing down at  
10:00, making him feel slightly wilted like a forlorn piece of lettuce.  
He set out the requisite tools: athame, crystal ball, statuettes, candle  
holders. The candles would be set out just before the circle was cast  
to insure against melting.  
  
He looked at his handiwork with satisfaction. Yes, those ruby  
eyes  
of the crystal ball's dragon base were positively dazzling in the  
sun. They would be perfect, a wonderful counterpoint to his beloved's  
green eyes.  
  
He picked up the sheaves of wheat, barley and oats, and added some  
fruits, nuts and freshly-baked bread to the altar. Satisfied with his  
arrangement, he tilted his face to the sun and drank in its rays.  
  
He walked back to the cottage, humming to himself as he picked  
some  
wildflowers and sniffed them delightedly. He entered the cottage  
and saw Ray at the table, deep in thought as he stared out the window.  
Dief looked up at Benny's entrance and the Mountie put a finger  
to his  
lips. He quietly walked over to Ray, whose green eyes were  
like glass.  
  
"Ray," he said softly.  
  
Startled, Ray looked up. What he saw in the depths of those eyes  
made Benny swallow, and then extend his hand.  
  
Ray took it and they remained as a tableau for several seconds,  
then  
they left the cottage together, Dief staying behind in the  
coolness.  
  
Ray smiled as he saw the set-up in the meadow. He turned to his  
beloved  
and said, "It looks great, Benny."  
  
"Thank you kindly, Ray."  
  
The sun blazed down, brilliant yellow all around them in the color  
of the wheat and grasses, in the dappling of daisies, lazy Susans, and  
buttercups.  
  
The circle was cast and Ray led the chant this time:  
  
"Now is the time of the First Harvest,/When the bounties of Nature  
give of themselves so that we may survive./O God of the ripening  
fields, Lord of the Grain,/Grant us the understanding of sacrifice as  
You/Prepare to deliver Yourself under the sickle of the/Goddess and  
journey to the lands of eternal summer./O Goddess of the Dark Moon,/  
teach us the secrets of rebirth/As the Sun loses its strength and the  
nights grow cold."  
  
Benny picked up the sheaves of wheat and rubbed the heads, the  
grains  
falling to the altar. Then Ray picked up a rosy peach and bit  
into  
it, savoring its sweet juices. Benny did the same and picked up  
the  
chant:  
  
"We partake of the First Harvest, mixing its energies/With ours  
that we may continue our quest for the starry/Wisdom of perfection./O  
Lady of the Moon and Lord of the Sun,/Gracious Ones before Whom the  
stars halt their courses,/We offer our thanks for the continuing  
fertility of the Earth./May the nodding grain loose its seeds to be  
buried in/The Mother's breast, ensuring rebirth in the warmth/Of the  
coming Spring."  
  
They ate the rest of the fruit and performed their magick spells,  
their desires taken from the heart as they entwined their fingers.  
  
Closing the circle, they headed back for the cottage.*  
  



	2. "Consume Thy Fruit..."

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Benny and Ray consummate their love.

Dief had gone out to the watch the circle and now trailed behind  
them as they walked toward the cottage. They still held hands as they  
moved in silence.  
  
When they reached the cottage, Dief left them to their own devices,  
which he knew to be mating (smart wolf!) and they entered the coolness,  
a welcome relief from the blazing sun.  
  
Up to their bedroom, then a slow removal of clothing, and a small  
sigh as they sank to the bed. It was glorious, this room, this cottage,  
each other. They lived in magic and made magic every time they made  
love.  
  
Benny brushed Ray's cheek and his eyes filled with his love. They  
kissed, and then their bodies came together, entwining and rubbing,  
their breathing as one, and hands were roaming and teasing, and their  
nipples touched, sending tingles through two spines as the hot breeze  
became cool in the depths of the forest and sprinkled through their  
room.  
  
"*'How do I love thee'*?" Benny breathed, and Ray answered,  
"*'With  
heart and soul and sinew...'*"  
  
And Benny opened, like a flower, and took Ray in, and they were  
One,  
joined with blood and bone and fire, and the brilliant sun of  
Lammas  
knew its equal when they sparked and roared, consuming each other  
in the heat of their love.  
  
And afterwards, when they lay in the coolness of the waning day,  
Benny said softly, "*'Consume thy fruit, O Wise One'*."  
  
"Benny?"  
  
"Yes, Ray?"  
  
"Did you just call me a fruit?"  
  
Benny's eyes widened and his mouth opened into an 'O', and then  
they  
both laughed, pressing closer together.  
  
"Wait here." Ray wiggled out of the embrace and padded downstairs,  
coming back with the paper he had been writing on earlier. He handed  
it  
to his lover as he settled back into his arms. Benny read it avidly,  
tears filling his eyes, then slowly quoted:  
  
*With all my heart,  
I love thee,  
And always will,  
Dear Benny.  
  
You are my life,  
My love,  
My reason for living.  
  
You're like wine,  
Heady and sweet,  
And you fill me  
With your goodness,  
Every day  
Of our lives.  
  
I love you.*  
  
"Oh, Ray," Benny breathed, and he hugged his Italian to him,  
Ray  
smiling and saying softly as he stroked his beauty's hair, "And  
a happy  
Lammas to you, too, Benny."  
  
Another Wheel Of The Year had turned.*  
  
********************  
*BLESSED BE TO ALL,*  
*AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT!*  
********************  
  
  
  
  
R


End file.
